So lost....Chance me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone, I’m a lost and confused to-be senior in high school who would appreciate it if someone could look over my stats and let me know what my chances are for the schools I’m planning on applying to this fall and what my best matches would be. My parents are clueless about the college process and my school counselor has provided absolutely no guidance. Please help, thank you!

Intended major: Industrial/ Systems Engineering (1st choice) Management Science and Engineering (2) Business Information Systems (3) and Business Admin/Business Econ (4)

State: California

School: Private, <200 students.Mostly international students and most domestic students attend local Christian colleges. Does not rank. **No clubs offered and very few APs and Honors offered. “College prep” school. Must take religion class every year.

Ethnicity: White

Gender: Female

Class: Incoming Senior

GPA: UW: 3.83 W: 4.15
SAT: None (Taking in Sept.)
ACT: 31 (Retaking in August, have taken tutoring all summer working for a 34)
Subject Tests: None
AP: Bio (4) Lang (3)

Senior year classes:
AP Calc
English 12
Ecology/Oceanography
Government/Econ
AP Art Studio (independent study)
AP Psychology
Bible 12
(Wishing my school offered APES… :(( )

EC/ Community Service: [L= leadership position]
-Cheerleading (9,10,11,12 (L))
-Soccer (11)
-Student government, Unity prefect (11L!!!)
-Volunteering at local therapeutic riding center ~100+ hours (9L,10L,11L,12L)
-Active in the church and involved in children’s ministry ~75+ hours (9,10,11)
-Volunteering for school fundraisers and events (9,10,11,12)
-Entered and won several very selective art contests (9,10,11)
-Had art featured at local art festival, viewed by ~350k people. (10)
-Created a fundraiser for Russian missions trip, raised hundreds of dollars through creating and selling art (11)
-Awards for head of art department (9,10)
-Award for top of AP Biology Class (11) and Head of Science Department (11)
-Numerous awards for academic excellence including seal bearer (9,10,11)
-Salutatorian in 8th grade… if that counts haha
(so, so much more! will add once I get a definite list and pull everything together)

Work Experience:
***Modeling for 13 years! over 75 major works on television, radio, and print including being on the cover of Vogue Magazine and being featured on the American Eagle billboard in time square on two separate occasions. Major partner with Matel (Barbie) and Target, working with each several times. (Will be writing an essay about my modeling since it has been such a big part of my life and has allowed me to work in a professional environment with celebrities and balance school with work)
Worked at a 5-star hotel as pool attendant and front desk (12)
Worked as international student camp counselor(11)

Schools Applying to:
Stanford (REA)
Cornell
UC Berkely
UCLA
USC
UCI
UCSB
Cal Poly SLO
NYU?
SDSU?

Thank you so much for your time! Please let me know your thoughts below :slight_smile:

2

It really depends on your essays. I’ll speak from Stanford’s POV, and from the resume as it stands (31 ACT).

Your academics are solid, but relatively low. However, you have an amazing work experience to compensate. I don’t know much about the modeling business (and I suspect neither do the admin officers) so your essays are going to be crucial in delineating how important modeling is to you personally (not just it being a big part of your life but why do you do it and continue to do it).

Teacher’s recs will be the second most important thing for you. Because you only have 2 AP tests and no SAT subject tests, your teachers will need to either point out academic talent or some facet of your character (curiosity, etc.) that compensates. Note that does not mean: “____ is an great student, balancing my class in her time filled schedule as a successful model.” Admin officers can figure that fact out based on your transcript and your ECs. Ideally they would read as: “____ is so involved in my class, constantly participating. I’m amazed at how quickly she figures out abstract concepts, and she’s always patient to explain it to a classmate.” Based on what you posted I would suggest your AP Bio teacher, but I can’t be sure.

A note for UCs - traditionally UCs have been reliant on standardized test scores more so than ECs, and their shorter essays mean its harder for you to explore modeling in just one. Your scores are good enough for UCI and UCSB for sure. Basically you’ll get into any college with an average ACT score of 32-33ish with good teacher recs (secondary note: UCs don’t have teacher recs). I would actually rank your chances of NYU or Cornell higher than Cal or LA, simply because the former are more likely to take a harder look at ECs.

Some colleges will actually reject you because they think you’re the perfect fit at another college. So don’t be surprised if you get rejected from Cal and accepted to Stanford - Cal has a much more academically competitive atmosphere than Stanford. Stanford is much more diverse than Cal and you’ll probably fit in better.

So in conclusion, you have a pretty good chance at every school in your list. Stanford may be a stretch, but it depends on how you use their supplemental essays. I think if you write stellar essays and get solid recs, you’ll have a good chance at Stanford (esp. if you get that 34). You just need teacher recs to prove you got the academics to hang with schools like Stanford and Cornell (Stanford, even though I said it was less academically competitive than Cal, is run on the quarter system and therefore very fast paced).

Of course, I’m a rising senior myself (although my sister went through this whole process), so I could be wrong in some respects. However, I would recommend you focus the next few months on the ACT and essays, as well as a subject test (maybe bio if you’re going for the bio teacher rec?).

Good luck!

P.S. This is just out of interest: How do you model through radio?

3

Thank you so much, @RegalDragon ! I appreciate your insight. My letter of recs are going to be coming from my art teacher (I have worked with her and her junior high classes after school hours and I’ve been her student for 4+ years, and developed a unique art style she said none of her students have ever done in her 30+ years of teaching) and my AP bio teacher (Who is also going to be my AP Psych and Oceanography teacher, her husband went to Stanford and kids attend USC and Stanford and we used to meet after school for tutoring and she used to rave how well I would be off at Stanford… lol) so I feel for certain my recs will be glowing!

However, I would like to know… Is it worth it to take subject tests? I was told by someone to take Math II to help my chances for getting into the engineering programs but I’m hesitant to do so and if it’s even worth my time. I feel like I could do very well on Bio but not sure how it would benefit me.

Also, another point to bring up: since art is such a big part of my resume and high school career, should I submit an art portfolio? I’m leaning towards no, since it wouldn’t be beneficial towards the major I’m pursuing for Stanford (Management Science and Engineering), but would like some reassurance either way.

And for your side note about modeling over radio, lol, I did a few voice-over commercials that were run on several radio stations during Christmas time one year! It was a crazy experience haha

4

It depends on how you’ve done in math (all A’s?). I would advise yes - take it because a) it’s not very hard and b) most ppl take it at the end of H. Precalc, so it’s the right time for you anyways. Bio is not very hard either (none of the subject tests are that hard, certainly less hard than APs imo) but has a lower margin of error than math (bio curve is usu. 46-47ish, math 43ish).

I would suggest both (because why not?) but give math more precedence than bio given your declared major.

The point of subject tests is to demonstrate that you like this field enough to pursue additional challenges. Even though they’re not THAT challenging (19% of the test takers got an 800 when I took it), they show that you’re driven enough to reach for new opportunisties to display your knowledge.

Yes, an art portfolio would be invaluable because it demonstrates something in your art teacher’s rec letter. Remember that you can use your essay to bind up all your interests together too make your declared major compatible w/your resume.

Good luck!